Tributes flow for human rights activist March 24, 2007

More than 1,000 mourners attended the funeral service of a 29-year-old human rights activist from Palmers Green who was killed in a motorcycle crash in Malaysia.

Koula Koumis was killed following an accident on the outskirts of the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. She sustained fatal injuries after the bike she was riding on as a pillion passenger crashed into a car which was performing a dangerous manoevre in the middle of the road. Miss Koumis’s boyfriend, who was riding the bike broke an arm and a leg in the accident on March 4. He is now recovering from his ordeal in the UK and being comforted by friends and family. Miss Koumis had been in south east Asia for a year working as a volunteer for the human rights organisation, Suaram, which means Voice of the Malaysian People in Malay. Her boyfriend Roland was also working in Kuala Lumpar for a firm of architects.

Grieving relatives flew in from around the globe for the funeral service which was held at the Greek Orthodox Church in Whiteman Road in Wood Green on Monday. A website dedicated to Miss Koumis has been created by one of her friends and has attracted dozens of tributes to a person one fellow activist described as someone “who had a goodness which dazzled us”.

An entry from former schoolfriend Rossana Georgiou who attended Southgate School with Miss Koumis said: “Kou Kou, the girls and I are absolutely devastated. We miss you already.”

Another activist and friend Penny Martin said: “She was truly good, positive and caring about everyone around her. She made people feel cared for and important. What an utterly terrible loss this is to us.”

Miss Koumis had worked as a volunteer in charity shops in the UK including the Red Cross in Palmers Green. She attended St Michael-at-Bowes Primary School in Brigadier Hill, Enfield, and continued her education at Southgate School and Middlesex University where she studied business and marketing. She leaves her parents, a brother and a sister.